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The Beginners Guide to Starting a Lifestyle Business Copyright 2013 Henri Junttila. All Rights Reserved. You may distribute this report freely, but you are not allowed to change anything, claim it as your own, or sell it. Also, I suggest you print it out for easier reading. Enjoy.
Table of Contents
Heres a brief overview of what youll learn in this report. You can click on each of the sections below to jump directly to it.
The Early Days!4 What is a Lifestyle Business Anyway?!5 7 Reasons to Build a Lifestyle Business!7 Who Can Build a Lifestyle Business?!10 How Does It All Work?!11 5 Proven Ways to Make Money !15 How Much Does it Cost to Start?! 18 How to Start Your Lifestyle Business!20 How to Build a Lifestyle Business in Your Spare Time!24 5 Common Mistakes You Must Avoid!28 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)!31 Your Next Steps !33 About the Author!34
It may not always be that exible, because what truly is? But it should support your life, instead of the other way around (think regular, corporate jobs). More and more people are waking up to the fact that they can no longer keep working at their 9-to-5 job. They are discovering that theres more to life, and they are realizing that you can do work you are excited about and interested in. This doesnt mean you have to be 110% passionate about what you do, because that may take time. And remember, this isnt all about you. A business exists because it solves a problem. A lifestyle business can be any kind of business. It can be conducted online or ofine. It can range from selling physical goods to selling information. The main way I help my students build a lifestyle business is through selling information or services online, because it amounts to the largest amount of freedom once youve gotten things going. This could mean ebooks, courses, membership sites, or even coaching and consulting. Well dive deeper into the different ways later in this report. This doesnt mean that building a lifestyle business is easy, because its not. Building any kind of business is hard, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. In short, a lifestyle business, to me, is simply an online business focused on selling information in one form or another.
Its perfect for people who are teachers, consultants, coaches, trainers, or who want to become any of those things. I call these people change-makers, because they do good in the world, and they help make a positive impact with their work, while supporting themselves. Now that you have a handle on what a lifestyle business is, why you should you build one? What are the benets, and whats in it for you?
While poker delivered a few of those, it failed to deliver the rest. Thats why I started an online business. My lifestyle business gives me the freedom to do what I want, and it gives me almost complete control over my time. This is more important to me now than ever before, because I became a father in December 2011 to a beautiful baby boy called Vincent. There are many other benets to running a lifestyle business, lets dive into the more specically, shall we?
1. Enjoyment
One of the core reasons why I do this is because I enjoy it. I couldnt survive if I had to spend 8 hours a day at a job I didnt like. The work I do has to be challenging, interesting, and I have to want to do it. It has to give me a sense of fulllment. A big part of the work I do teaching people how to build their own lifestyle business is very dynamic. There are constantly new challenges and obstacles to conquer. This keeps things fresh. And it doesnt hurt that Im doing something Im good at. One of my superpowers is creating content and simplifying complex topics so they make sense to my students and clients. I believe the reason you are on this planet is to enjoy yourself. Its to follow your heart and excitement. Yes, you still have to be practical, but if youre not liking your life right now, its a sign that changes need to be made.
2. No Alarm Clock
The second benet is freedom, or the way I put it, no alarm clock.
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Ive never been great at waking up in the morning. I like to sleep for as long as I sleep. Sometimes that means waking up at 5AM, and sometimes that means waking up at noon. If I dont get enough sleep, Im like a zombie for the rest of the day. I also dont particularly care for adhering to someone elses schedule. I enjoy my independence, which is why I enjoy having a lifestyle business. Who knows if this may change in the future, but this is how things are right now.
3. Location Independence
My lifestyle business also gives me location independence. I can work from anywhere in the world. Right now, as I write this, I live in northern Scandinavia, where my family is and where Vincents grandparents live. Its very cold here during the winters, but for some reason, I enjoy it here, at least right now. My business allows me to take vacations whenever I want, because I can just bring my laptop along and get my work done wherever I am. In 2010, my girlfriend and I lived in Spain for a year. We made some great friends, learned Spanish and ate some fantastic food. What could you do if you had complete control of your schedule? What could you do if you could do your work anywhere in the world? Where would you go?
5. Relationships
While running an online business as a solopreneur can get lonely, it also gives you more time to be with your friends, family, and pets.
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Im not the best at scheduling my time, and Im okay with that, because its not a problem (that Im aware of anyway). I try to work when Im inspired, and a exible schedule allows me to do that. It doesnt always happen, but more often than not, it does.
6. Personal Growth
For me, running a business has been one of the biggest growth experiences of my life. It constantly pushes me into new territory. It forces me to grow as a human being. This isnt just about the money for me. Its about creating the life I want to live, both on the inside and on the outside. And its about helping you do the same. I want to have time to focus on the personal development side of life, not just making money and bathing in material abundance.
7. Core
What this really boils down to is freedom and inner peace. We dont build businesses to build businesses, we do it because it gives us something else, and for me that something else is the freedom to live my life my way. Its what allowed me to spend 11 months in Spain in 2010, and its what will allow me to spend a lot of time with my son, and my family. We all have different goals, and a lifestyle business is not for everyone, but if you resonate with what Ive said here, it might just be for you. Lets move on to our next topic, which is: who can build a lifestyle business? Is it truly the right option for you?
Yes, you can build a lifestyle business, if you truly want to.
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You can have it, and you can have it right now. But lets not go into that here. You can nd more about this in my Passionate Living Course and on my website.
You dont have to be a great writer to build a lifestyle business. Remember, Im not a native English speaker. I make plenty of mistakes in my writing, and I have a Swedish accent, and I do just ne. There are people who mess things up more than I do, and they do ne. That means you can do this, too, unless you let your excuses stop you.
The list goes on and on.. On to top of this, you will have complete control of your own email list, or your audience, so even if your website crashes or the search engines suddenly start to hate you, you have leverage that a normal job just cant offer. But in the beginning, the income may not be predictable. As you build things out and expand, it becomes very predictable, but its not easy. So, how is a lifestyle business built? Lets do a brief rundown.
1. Problem
The rst thing you have to do is nd a problem you can solve. This doesnt have to mean that you help people with a specic problem like losing weight. It could mean starting a web-based interview show that gives people information and solves problems that way. You could then make money via sponsors, partnerships, and even products down the road. But you have to nd the intersection between: What people want What youre good at (or want to become good at)
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What people are willing to pay for Its not enough to just follow your passion. There are a lot of misconceptions around passion that you should beware of, but thats a topic for another day.
2. Audience
Once youve found your intersection, its time to build an audience. The power is shifting away from big media companies to independent publishers (that means you). And the bigger your audience, the more power you have. Not power in terms of manipulating people, but power in terms of inuence. When you have an audience willing to listen to what you say. When they trust you, you have leverage that no job can give you. If youve picked the right market, you will have a thriving lifestyle business. So, how do you build an audience? The simple answer is: You get a website up You get people on your email newsletter You rinse and repeat This takes work, and one of the keys to any lifestyle business is an email list. To read more about what an email list is and how to use it, check out my free articles here.
3. Solution
Once you have a small audience, you can gure out what problems they have. What are they struggling with? What is stopping them from getting what they want? With this information, you can create your rst product or service. It could be a small ebook, an ecourse, or coaching package. For example, if your strength is the technical side of websites, you can help people get their websites set-up. You can have a DIY course, and you can also offer a service where you setup and manage websites for other people.
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A solution is simply something that helps people move forward in the best way possible. Some people will want to learn everything themselves, while others will need hand-holding.
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1. Services
The rst way is to offer services. This could be coaching, consulting or done for you services. It could be website setups, designs, proofreading, health coaching, or something else depending on what market youre in. Services are one of the best ways to start bringing in money in the beginning. If you charge $100 per hour and have 10 monthly clients, that means your income is $1,000 per month. And while youre coaching, youre getting insights into your customers lives. You can use these insights to create products and online courses. However, it takes work to get those rst clients, so you have to be willing to work hard. And you have to be willing to get out there and get in front of potential clients.
2. Products
The next way is to create products. This could be: Ebooks Audio courses Video courses Workbooks Or all of the above
The reason I recommend you start with services is because it takes time to build an audience large enough to be able to bring in a sustainable income on just products.
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But products can be a great way to bring in additional income in the beginning. And the good news is that your rst product doesnt have to be perfect. It could just be a small report or a 20 minute audio recording. Then you listen to feedback and improve.
3. Afliate Marketing
Then we have afliate marketing, which simply means making money by recommending products. For example, if I join Amazons afliate program, I get a certain percentage of each sale from customers that go to Amazon via my link. Now, Amazon only pays around 4-6%. Compare that to some online courses that pay anywhere from 50-100% if you refer a customer. As with products, afliate marketing income takes time to build up, but its a nice way to bring in extra money. And its a great way to complement your own services and products. For example, I help people build a lifestyle business, but I dont own a web host, and I dont create website solutions. Instead, I recommend people to the services I use, and I make a commission each time someone buys through my link.
4. Training Courses
Then we have larger training courses. These are what I call core offers where you help people for a month to six months, and you help people reach a signicant goal. I do this with my premium training course, Lifestyle Liberation Academy. It helps you get started building a lifestyle business. In reality, the Academy is more like an ongoing training course with unlimited support. In it I share what works and what doesnt. I share how I run my business and you get a framework for building your business. You also get unlimited access to me to ask questions and gain clarity. Having a core offer makes promotion simpler, because when you can make a bigger promise (compared to smaller ebooks), its going to be more compelling for your audience. So premium training courses are crucial, but they dont happen right away. In the beginning, you may not know enough about your audience to create a deeper course.
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Thats ne. Itll come with time. But also be aware of if youre holding yourself back because you think you dont have anything to offer.
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Theres nothing stopping you, except the ideas you choose to believe in.
As you can see, the basic building blocks are extremely inexpensive. Another option if youre not tech savvy is to go with outstandingSETUP, who help you set-up your website and make sure its running smoothly. I use them myself on Wake Up Cloud to make sure nothing goes wrong. They are more a bit more expensive at $29 per month, but you get a discount if you go through my link. They are worth checking out if you enjoy peace of mind and dont want to get too involved in the technical bits. There are a lot of other factors involved in building a thriving lifestyle business, but the start-up costs are not an issue, as you can see.
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If you add a high-quality training course to this, youll save a lot of frustration, money and time in the long-run. It might run you anywhere from $300-500, but its money well spent. Whatever you do, dont try to gure this out on your own, because theres a lot of bad advice out there. Its easy to get confused, overwhelmed and give up.
Dont Be Fooled
The barrier to entry is low. That means a lot of people will start, and a lot of people will fail, because they dont know what to do, and they fall for get-rich quick promises. This takes time, and it takes work. But it is possible. Ive done it, and Ive seen many others do it. Ive made a full-time living online since 2009, and I only share whats working right now in all of my free and paid material. No uff, no hype, just the truth, because the truth shall set you free.
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In the beginning, I wasted over $10,000 on get-rich quick schemes and lousy coaching. But this initial phase of confusion is normal, because when youre learning something new, you will be confused and overwhelmed. Thats how your brain works.
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Building an email list of people that want to hear from you Producing content that will attract clients and customers while you sleep Figuring out what products and services people want to buy What pitfalls to avoid so you dont have to waste years guring this out
Theres a lot to learn, which is why Ive created the Lifestyle Liberation Academy The Academy takes you from A to Z when it comes to building a business that supports your lifestyle. To get started, you dont need much. And heres the thing most people never tell you.
Maybe its that they arent 100% clear on what their passion is, or what problem theyre solving. It could be anything. But Im here to tell you that none of it matters. There are people who are in worse situations than you, and theyre making this happen. It comes down to how badly you want it. If building a lifestyle business just sounds like a nice thing to do, you probably arent ready to take action. But if youre sick of staying at your job, and you want to share your gifts with the world, then you have a good chance of succeeding.
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I get a lot of emails from people telling me theyd like to start a lifestyle business, but they just dont have time. This seeming lack of time is what I want to cover. Just for a moment, Id like to ask you to suspend your beliefs that this isnt possible, or that you dont have time. Open your mind to the possibility that you have more than enough time to build a lifestyle business in your spare time. Yes, even if you work a full-time job and have kids.
Yes, you may be swamped, but there is always a way to nd time to work on something thats important to you.
False Solutions
The solutions I often hear from people go something like this, if I only: Could quit my job Take a vacation to focus on my business Had more clarity on what to do But these are all excuses. If you quit your job, you wouldnt get any more done than you do now. Plus, you would probably be stressed out because you wouldnt have any money coming in. Its classic Parkinsons Law, which states: work expands to ll the time available for its completion. If you quit your job, youd just spend more time procrastinating and doing useless tasks. I know, because Ive been there. Stop waiting for something to happen, and start with what you have.
You can build a business in your spare time. Is it going to be easy? Nope. Will you have to get more organized? Probably. But is it possible? Denitely.
If you truly dont have time to build a business right now, thats ne. But dont make excuses for why you cant make it happen. Own your decision. If youve read this far, somewhere deep down you want to make this happen, so start thinking about how you can nd that extra time. And start looking at what you need to focus on rst.
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2. Original Idea
The second mistake is thinking that you need an original idea to start a business. I see people being held back for years because of this. They believe they have to nd an untapped market and come up with an innovative idea, but that isnt how things work.
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You dont need an original idea, you just have to provide value. And when you provide value in a market that is willing to pay for it, you have the seeds of a business. Down the line you may come up with something that changes the whole world, but you have to start somewhere, and usually that somewhere isnt with an innovative idea. Again, it comes back to being willing to start before youre ready. Be aware of the ideas you believe to be true that hold you back. A big one is thinking you need an original idea.
3. Overwhelm
The next mistake is overwhelm. You will get overwhelmed whenever youre learning something new. But getting stuck in overwhelm and perfection-land is where the problems begin. I know you have a lot of ideas. I know you have many passions and interests. I know you want to gure things out so you dont fail. And I know your heart yearns to contribute and to be of service. But most of the time, you just cant gure things out. You have to be willing to start. One of the benets of having a community of like-minded people to support you is that they can help remove a lot of the overwhelm. This is why I started the Lifestyle Liberation Academy, but well talk more about it at the end of this report.
4. Conditioning
Then we come to good old conditioning. If youre anything like me, youve picked up a lot of beliefs and ideas the stop you from living the life of your dreams. It could be believing that: Youre not good enough You have nothing to say There are more qualied people out there, why would anyone listen to you? You dont have time You dont have an original idea You dont want to take action because your friends and family disapprove
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You can come up with all the reasons you want for why you cant do this. And thats ne by me. Im not the one living your life. But eventually you have to decide what you truly want. Do you want to live the life you secretly dream of, or do you want to succumb to what society thinks is right? It may take time for you to reach that point where youre ready to take action, so let it take as long as it needs to take.
5. Belief
If you believe you can build a lifestyle business, you will. Many people look for signs that they should quit. If something doesnt instantly go their way, they give up, because they arent meant to do this, right? Well, no. Again, building a lifestyle business takes work. If youre not willing to put in the work. If youre not willing to face your inner demons, you wont make progress. You will have a lot of fears, conditioning and ideas youve learned working against you. Your whole being will shake as you step out of your comfort zone. But after awhile, youll start to get comfortable in this new, strange world. You dont have to take things so seriously. You can enjoy, experiment and play. Thats when you really get into the ow. Now before we wrap things up and I tell you about what you can do next if you want to get started, lets cover a few common questions I get.
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I was determined to make this work, so I took things one step at a time, and I learned to use the software that I needed. So this isnt a question of whether you are a certain person or not, this is a question of whether or not you are willing to learn new things. I teach all the basics in my courses. You can learn anything you want. And the good news? Once youve learned the basics, you know most of the things you need to know. Once you know how to ride a bike, you dont need to learn much more, unless you want to do more.
Q: How do I nd my niche?
You dont nd it by analyzing and trying to get things perfect. You nd it via experimentation. I started with a vague niche with my blog, Wake Up Cloud. I started writing about personal development because thats what I felt inspired to do. Once my readers discovered that I was living in Spain and running an online business, they wanted to know more. And over time, Wake Up Cloud evolved into what it is today. So forget about nding your niche. Focus on starting. If your rst project isnt a wild success, so what? You keep on going, learning and experimenting. What separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones is the willingness to experiment and keep trying different things. You probably wont succeed right off the bat, but like I said earlier, if you dont start, youve already failed. When youre on your deathbed, do you really want to look back at this time and regret playing things safe? Will you be content knowing that you didnt go after your dreams, and that you didnt follow your heart?
So when youre ready, click here to join the Wake Up Cloud newsletter and grab your FREE report.
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My girlfriend and I visiting Peru. The amazon forest is in the background there. This was when I still had long hair. Im on the right, just in case youre confused ;)
I bought books, I learned, and I made a living playing cards until the age of 23, when I couldnt do it anymore. Thats when I started building websites, and my online business. Or in reality, thats when I got serious about making a living online. I had tried a few years earlier, but I failed, and ended up wasting thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours.
Surprisingly helpful
When you email me, you get a real answer back. It surprises people, and the fact that it surprises people scares me, because what does that say about all the other people in this market? It seems most are only keen to make money, and they dont care about their customers.
I care
How? I answer your emails, fast. I go out of my way to create free, valuable content that helps you move forward, even if youve never bought from me, just because it makes me happy.
Feedback
So, if you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at henri@wakeupcloud.com. No question is too small. Even if you just want to say hi, Ill say hi back. Thats all for now. If you arent signed up for the newsletter, you should be, because I have a lot more goodies coming up. All the best,
http://www.wakeupcloud.com/
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